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“Get rid of all your stuff now. It may have meaning for you — but not for us.” — the children and grandchildren

Growing old can be ugly. Stressful, even, especially as our parents grow ill and require additional time and resources. It is painful to feel the fabric of life unwind as we try to wrap it more tightly. “Safety,” “dignity” and “protection” shift meanings as muscles defy commands and memories fog.

Someone told me NASA has an entire city of American astronauts who have been living deep in a tunnel in the moon since 1973. Funded by the Trilateral Commission and protected from radiation and meteors, their computers are far superior to anything on Earth. They’ve created a special electronic language so they can talk with beings on other planets. Their entire food supply comes from a special green moss that tastes like manna.

I smiled when I heard that. But, like so many other rumors, it contains a smidgen of fact.

I’m not sure what God has against goats, but it looks like they’ll be missing in the New Earth. Sheep make it, but no goats.

Jesus' own words are recorded in Matt. 25:31: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another.”

Jesus told the “Sheep and Goats” parable to people who really wanted to get into heaven. They listened eagerly, taking careful notes on how to make it through the gates.

Let’s call him Isaac because that’s not his name. He lives in a sweatshirt, a hoodie that hides his eyes so he can feel invisible. But, he’s not invisible; he’s just hiding. It’s rather like putting on a mask and pretending to be blind, deaf, unable to speak and broke. All at once.

It keeps folks from talking to you.

All except one.

She’s a teacher, a Christ-following teacher who believes that compassion is God’s gift to be shared. Without limit.

It’s a question I’ve heard numerous times in my ministry. Usually asked by someone who is on hospice care, whose cancer has just been pronounced inoperable or whose family is far away and disinterested. Seldom does this question come from someone who feels the daily love of family and friends.

The “For Dummies” books have made a ton of money for writers and publishers. There are scores of titles, each one describing complex tasks in simple language. They’re the go-to books for those of us who get lost in the 12-page/five-language directions that come with our new purchases.

Plumbing. Learning Spanish verbs. Doing taxes. Beekeeping. List any subject, and Dummies.com probably has a book for it. There’s even a Revelation for Dummies!

However, when I did not find one covering salvation, that set me to writing.

“And, finally, Lord, please bless the missionaries and the colporteurs around the world.”

The man assigned to the morning prayer in worship this week was one of the older elders, a retired pastor whose gray hair and halting steps spoke of many hard years. Clearly, he had thought through his prayer carefully and spoke to God for all of us as if he and God were having a personal conversation in his living room.